During orthopedic procedures such as hip replacement or knee replacement surgeries, various tools and instruments are used to assist with the various procedures that shape the bone and establish an area for the insertion of a joint replacement implant. Some of the tools used during these procedures are designed to provide force in connection with one or more instruments, and to generally modify and verify the surgical area to accept the implant apparatus, for example with use of cutting guides, provisional fittings, pins, and other instruments. Force may be required to be applied towards, or away from, the surgical area in order to shape the surgical area, or to insert or extract various instruments and components involved in the surgical procedure.
For example, one tool used to apply force towards or away from a surgical area in a joint replacement procedure is known as a “slaphammer” or “slap hammer”. Slap hammers, also known by the alternate name of a “slide hammer”, provide a weight capable of sliding about a guide rod. The sliding weight can be used to generate a force when the sliding weight reaches and strikes a stop provided on the guide rod. For example, a slap hammer tool can be used to provide force downward towards an object, to provide precision force (e.g., impact) towards a point of interest at an end of the slap hammer. Likewise, a slap hammer tool can be used to provide force away from an object, such as to extract an object coupled to an end of the slap hammer tool.